• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Least Concern
2016	Near Threatened	A2c+3c+4c
2012	Near Threatened	A2c+3c+4c
2008	Near Threatened	A2c; A3c; A4c
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	127,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	6700-61000 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2021
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	2020-2038
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-14%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-18%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-18%	-	-	-
Generation length	5.99 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: It is widely distributed on both range islands, but occurs at low densities (Erritzøe et al. 2012), and is more common on New Britain than on New Ireland. The population density is thought to be below 0.1 pairs per km² (Mayr and Diamond 2001).

The population size has been previously estimated to be greater than 10,000 individuals (Buchanan et al. 2008, Davis et al. 2018), which roughly equates to 6,700 mature individuals. Based on a minimum density of 0.3 individuals per km² (based on the pair density estimate from Mayr and Diamond 2001), a maximum density derived from the first quartile population density estimate from congeners (2.65 individuals per km²), the projected area of tree cover within the range in 2021 (c. 34,300 km²; Global Forest Watch 2021), and assuming the tree cover to be 75-100% occupied, the population size may be tentatively suspected to fall within the range 7,000 - 91,000 individuals, roughly equating to 5,000 - 61,000 mature individuals. Taking into account the previously estimated minimum population size (Buchanan et al. 2008, Davis et al. 2018), the population size is here placed in the band 6,700 - 61,000 mature individuals.

Approximately 80% of the available habitat is on New Britain. Assuming each island holds a single subpopulation, the largest subpopulation may hold approximately 4,000 - 50,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The species is inferred to be declining owing to ongoing clearance of lowland forest (Buchanan et al. 2008, Global Forest Watch 2021). Buchanan et al. (2008) calculated the rate of forest loss within the species's range on New Britain as 12.4% over 1990-2000.

Over 18 years (three generations) from 2002-2020, approximately 9% of tree cover with at least 50% canopy cover was lost from within the species's range (Global Forest Watch 2021). Based on this data, it is suspected that 10-13% will be lost over the next three generations.

This species is dependent on forest, but it appears to be more tolerant of forest degradation than previously thought (Davis et al. 2018). The species's population size is therefore suspected to have undergone a reduction of 1-14% over the past three generations, and is suspected to undergo a reduction of 1-18% over the next three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Papua New Guinea	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 760 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 1370 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Violaceous Coucal Centropus violaceus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/violaceous-coucal-centropus-violaceus on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.